ViaSat roaming deal may expand in-flight Wi-Fi

Satellite firms to share capacity for global Internet services

ViaSat of Carlsbad has inked a roaming deal with French satellite firm Eutelsat that will allow it to offer in-flight Wi-Fi and other satellite broadband services in Europe and the Middle East.

ViaSat, which provides high-speed Internet to homes in the U.S. under the Exede brand name, has been pushing into the in-flight Wi-Fi market. The company is retrofitting JetBlue’s fleet with antennas and other gear for faster in-flight Wi-Fi. It also is equipping some United Airlines planes. In all, ViaSat will power Wi-Fi on 400 commercial aircraft

ViaSat’s in-flight Wi-Fi has been limited to domestic routes, however, where its ViaSat-1 satellite provides coverage. The deal with Eutelsat – which operates the KA-SAT satellite over Europe and the Middle East — will allow ViaSat to expand internationally.

“This formalizes another step toward covering the high traffic areas of the world with the fastest, most affordable mobile broadband satellite connectivity,” said ViaSat CEO Mark Dankberg in a statement.

“Extending our long-standing relationship with Eutelsat enables us to provide the fastest in-flight Wi-Fi available on both sides of the Atlantic.”

In addition, the roaming agreement would support other satellite Internet services such as cruise ship connectivity, emergency relief services, oil and gas operations support and government requirements.

The two companies have a long relationship. For example, ViaSat and Israeli’s EL AL airline announced plans in March to launch in-flight Wi-Fi on some EL AL flights from Tel Aviv to several European cities. That service will be powered by Eutelsat’s KA-SAT satellite using ViaSat’s antennas, modems and other gear.

The new roaming deal works both ways, so Eutelsat will be able to tap into capacity on ViaSat-1 for services it wants to expand into North America.

In addition, ViaSat-2, which is scheduled to launch in 2016, also will be included, expanding coverage over the Atlantic and into parts of Latin America.

“Working with ViaSat, we can extend to North America the high quality of service we already provide clients in Europe through KA-SAT, and bridge the two satellite systems with the addition of ViaSat-2,” said Eutelsat’s Chief Executive Michel de Rosen, in a statement. “We believe this feature will be a real plus for companies providing mobile services and who need to move around user equipment from region to region.”